AN INDEPENDENT commission will report on the possible introduction of top-up fees in Wales, the First Minister said yesterday.

The Welsh Assembly Government has ruled out university top-up fees until the end of the Assembly term in 2007, but has not ruled them out after that date.

Yesterday, First Minister Rhodri Morgan told AMs that Professor Theresa Rees would be asked to examine the impact of the policy in England once the relevant Bill had passed through the Commons.

Professor Rees, of Cardiff University, chaired a previous investigation which recommended the return of student grants in Wales, a policy which the Welsh Assembly Government announced last year.

Mr Morgan said, "The decision on whether we introduce variable fees in Wales will have to be made when we can take account of our obligation to our students and to the proper funding of our higher education institutions.

"That's why, once the expected Bill has passed through the House of Commons and we can actually see its details, we have asked Professor Theresa Rees to reconvene the Student Support Study Group to examine the question of variable fees in Wales and the impact of variable fees in England, on higher education institutions and student support in Wales."

Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the Assembly Mike German said later that the earlier Rees commission had already given its view on tuition fees.

He said, "The commission was opposed to fees, we know that from their original report.

"There is no point in hiding behind Professor Rees on this issue. The real problem is to find where the money can come from to fund higher education without top-up fees.

"This is a financial question, not an education question. The answer is also staring us in the face. We have to scrap the Barnett Formula and replace it with a new system based on the needs of Wales."

Plaid Cymru AM Leanne Wood said student loans were now charged at an interest rate of 9% and so students were "now being taxed at a higher rate than millionaires".